Love Our Great Lakes Day returns to Port

By KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM

Ozaukee Press staff

A day of activities focusing on Lake Michigan will be held in Port Washington Saturday, Oct. 9.

Love Our Great Lakes Day will return after a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic with a plethora of programs intended to broaden people’s appreciation of the natural resource at Port’s doorstep.

“It’s important to learn more about how to conserve what we have and to celebrate it,” Bill Moren, who is helping organize the local event, said. “Lake Michigan has certainly shaped this area, and even now life here is all about being on the lake.”

The day will begin with a series of online presentations from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. There will be a question-and-answer period after each session.

Dan Egan, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes,” and Susan Bence, an environmental reporter with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee radio, will discuss “A Battle Between a Great City and a Great Lake.”

Paul Roebber, a distinguished professor of atmospheric sciences at UWM’s School of Freshwater Sciences, will discuss “Climate Change Impacts on the Great Lakes and the Upper Midwest.”

Russ Green, a marine archaeologist and Great Lake Regional coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will talk about “Our Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary.”

Jennifer Phillips-Vanderberg, science director for the Western Great Lake Bird and bat observatory, will talk about “Science Based Actions Communities Can Take to Help the Great Lakes and the Animals That Depend on Them.”

Outdoor activities will be the focus in the afternoon.

The group Green Sails will perform at Rotary Park from noon to 1:15 p.m., and a bird tour through the sanctuary at Coal Dock Park will be held from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Participants should meet at the gazebo.

A guided walk and talk at Birchwood Hills will be led by Port Washington City Forester Jon Crain from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Phillips-Vanderberg and Jill Kunsmann of the Bird and Bat Observatory will discuss native plantings and their impact on birds and pollinators from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on south beach.

Ozaukee County Planning and Parks Director Andrew Struck will lead a guided walk and talk along Mineral Springs near the We Energies power plant from 3 to 4 p.m.

The staff of the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust will also lead walks through the Forest Beach Migratory Preserve from 3 to 4 p.m.

All events are free but advance registration is required and may be done online at www.eventbrite.com/e/love-our-great-lakes-day-tickets-170083447169.